Life can only be understood backwards

Sue Leonard finds there is more than a hint of autobiography in Douglas Kennedy’s tenth novel, which could possibly be his finest work.

AT the start of Douglas Kennedy’s new novel, Thomas Nesbitt is served with divorce papers. The description of the death throes of his marriage is so poignant, I felt the scene must have been written from experience.

So when the American tells me that his 25 year marriage to an Irish woman had recently split up, I was saddened for him, but not altogether surprised. Did this affect his writing? Kennedy nods.